[Edu-sig] Path sanity?

[ajsiegel@optonline.net]

Jason - 

I have reread your posts, and -  guess what - I object.  In tone, and content.

>From the title, onward.

Path sanilty, implying that the status quo is path insanity.  Harsh.

And a very, very premature judgment, IMO.

What the responses to your post prove, to me, is there are multiple possible strategies for the solution to the problem you perceive. 

To the extent there really is a problem at all.

Frankly, I still don't understand truly what it is.  The current directory is effectively on sys.path. One can always import pitoeey.py from a script in that same directory, without touching anything. Why doesn't that handle the cases that a newbie might be concerned with. Why would directory structures be coming into play before one learned how to handle directory structures for modules.  Which, of course, can be handled in ways that are not insane, by a long measure.

I think the idea/trick for having IDLE start up in your current working directory was a good one, and solves the issue where you want to simply import from that directory in an interactive session.

All simple cases seemed to be covered, fairly well out of the box. 

And complex cases are solved by understanding the tool and the options it provides at the level appropriate for someone creating complex cases.

And as long as any 3rd party library is properly installed, it will also be available. There is a good tool to help both the developer and user make sure that is accomplished - if used according to the instruction on *its* box.

And, as mentioned, with the facilities of disutils, there is no good reason that a self installing executable for Windows would not be an option.  Unless the distributor chooses not to make it an option.  Perhaps out of conscious lack of concern for the user working on Windows.  Which, of course, is her perogative.  Seems that is the Jabber case.  There is almost an assumption that it is being installled on *nix.  

And, BTW, please stop holding Rebol up to us, me.

Its help system is as it should be, as is its installation procedure.

The problem that Python does not meet your expectations of behaving like Rebol is, IMO,your problem.  Not Python's.

Good back to Russia ;)

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